2 APRIL 1870, Page 3

Mr. J. Payne, the Deputy Assistant-Judge at the Middlesex Sessions,

died this week. He was a good man and a fair lawyer, but lacked the perception of the ludicrous, and was perpetually getting into absurd situations. Our readers will recollect his wonderful rhymes about Harper Twelvetrees, the insecticide, "sleepless himself to give his clients' sleep," of whom "Judge Payne," as he was affectionately called, wrote-

" Twelvetrees is a jewel, Twelvetrees is a brick, And, like fire to fuel,

We to him will stick."

If, as the Telegraph states, the Assistant Deputy Judge gets no salary, and only a fee of five guineas for each sitting day, it will not be easy to fill Mr. Payne's place. Such a mode of paying criminal judges entrusted with such power is disgraceful.